Raiders lose all momentum in lopsided loss vs. Broncos

The Raiders get a week off on the heels of their 37-6 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday. Good thing, too, because the Raiders need all the time they can get for self reflection.
That’s typically what teams do during the bye week, anyway. The Raiders aren’t going to like much of what they see when they look in the figurative mirror, either.
Their performance Sunday against the Broncos was a microcosm for the first quarter of the Raiders season, in which they won only one game.
Here’s what the Raiders are going to see:

1. A defense that can’t get off the field or keep opponents out of the end zone on a consistent basis.
The Raiders allowed 125 points their first four games. That’s more than any Raiders team allowed during the first four games of a season during the Al Davis era.

2. A rushing attack that is all but toothless despite a running back, Darren McFadden, that many consider the best in the NFL.
On Sunday, McFadden rushed for 34 yards on 13 carries, for a 2.8-yard average. So far, he has rushed for 201 yards on 57 carries (3.4).
However, if you take away the 64-yarder he had against the Pittsburgh Steelers, McFadden is averaging a paltry 2.4.
It’s not just McFadden, either. Mike Goodson hasn’t done much running the ball, either. And second-year back Taiwan Jones hasn’t run the ball at all this season — he was part of a botched exchange on a reverse in the regular-season opener.

3. A defense that can’t generate consistent pressure on the quarterback.
The Raiders have three sacks through four games this season. The reasons are many. However, it’s apparent that the Raiders can’t rely upon getting consistent pressure with a four-man rush.
Signing veteran end Andre Carter figures to help, even if his arrival isn’t a panacea. Playing against quarterbacks not named Philip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger and Peyton Manning also works in the Raiders favor.
Getting back starting cornerbacks Ron Bartell and Shawntae Spencer also would allow the Raiders to blitz more, without fear of backup cornerbacks breaking down in coverage.

4. An offense capable of moving the ball but unable to cash in touchdowns on a regular basis.
Through four games, the Raiders have scored only 68 yards, with half of those coming against the Steelers.
Again, the problems are many in this regard. The inability to run the ball well, the lack of a go-to receiver, perhaps play-calling, you name it.

— On the bright side, the Raiders committed only five penalties for 41 yards. That’s in keeping with their disciplined ways the first three games.
The Raiders stand at 19 penalties for 143 yards through four games. Very impressive. Penalties aren’t a hot topic around here, in a negative light, for the first time in many, many years.
Hey, it’s a nice start.

— General manager Reggie McKenzie and Allen are working hard in an attempt to overhaul the 53-man roster. One thing they have learned, for sure, is that positive change doesn’t happen overnight.
Outside linebacker Philip Wheeler is the only new player that is playing at a very high level game in, game out.
Right guard Mike Brisiel, right offensive tackle Willie Smith and others such as cornerbacks Bartell, Spencer and Pat Lee and Goodson either haven’t played enough to provide an accuate gauge into their long-term value or haven’t played well enough to make a marked difference in the overall picture.
So it is that McKenzie and Allen will spend inordinate time this week taking more hard looks at the roster and seeing what they can do about upgrading the talent level.
They no doubt will be careful about making any knee-jerk responses to one game. That would be easy to do after such a thorough thrashing against the Broncos.
Right now, it’s about perspective. The Raiders are in rebuilding mode, regardless what they say publicly. Teams going through such a process experience growing pains that sometimes manifest themselves in the form of lopsided games.

DennisAllensVisor Says:
October 1st, 2012 at 10:40 am
2nd time we have played a team the just played the Texans.

Both games we were blown out.

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Teams get better after getting blasted by the taxens.

TheBay2LA

Thec Says:
October 1st, 2012 at 10:34 am
Casey Mathews was better then Clay at UO and was drafted in round 4, does not see the field on Sundays.

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I was not high on casey matthews however, he will be a solid backup at some point.

Clay and Skov are imporving imo. I hope one of them do last to 3rd when we pick would give us some serious options
I like both players.

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Skov I like more see him going first, I wouldn’t be surprised if Kiko Alonso goes before Clay, unless of the field stuff hurts his stock. I think there’s better value though out there to be had.

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SilverNBlackPA Says:
October 1st, 2012 at 10:41 am
But winning teams do in fact draft for need.

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Packers and Giants are both BPA drafters. Super Bowl champs. Up and coming teams like the 49ers, Texans, falcons and Lions also go with the BPA strategy.

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All these teams are established teams from top to bottom, and can afford at times to draft BPA. However, the packers often draft Dline out of need, in fact drafted Nick Perry out of need. The RAMS, LIONS, RAIDERS, BROWNS, JAGS, BUCS, BENGALS, And so on have also drafted BPA, and it hasn’t made them any better any faster.

guest123

I agree with whoever stated that we should draft for BPA, regardless of position. The free agency rules of the new CBA have made player movement much more fluid and it’s hard to count on any one player being the franchise guy anymore. Better to get a young player’s prime years before you eventually lose them.

If you look at the Green Bay’s and Giants roster, they have about 10 guys who are stars at their position (top 10%) and probably another 5 or so in the top 30%. The rest are all interchangeable. Just guys. The 8-8 type teams have 5 guys who are stars and another 5 or so that are top 30%. Don’t ask where the Raiders are in terms of fielding “star” players.

Thec

DMAC Says:
October 1st, 2012 at 10:45 am
I’ll be back peoples!

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It has allready commenced, we were not told though.

DennisAllensVisor

Thec Says:
October 1st, 2012 at 10:46 am
DennisAllensVisor Says:
October 1st, 2012 at 10:40 am
2nd time we have played a team the just played the Texans.

Both games we were blown out.

++

Teams get better after getting blasted by the taxens.

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Teams get 4 quarters of practice against an extremely better version of our offense.

Its like trying to hit a baseball then the pitcher starts throwing beach balls.

SilverNBlackPA

Some interesting free agents next year:

Cliff Avril, DE
Greg Jennings, WR
Brent Grimes, CB

Some real good LT up for free agency too:

Jake Long
Duane Brown
Ryan Clady

If you sign one of those guys you could move Veldheer to RT and keep drafting for defense.

TheBay2LA

DMAC Says:
October 1st, 2012 at 10:43 am
Are we being out coached in the 2nd half of games?????

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We’re being outdone in all facets after the half, but yes obviously out coached as well. It was surely obvious the Donkeys went in up by 4 and made the best adjustment to drastically increase that total. While the Raiders, made no apparent adjustments, and increased the margin by 0

Thec

I agree with whoever stated that we should draft for BPA, regardless of position

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My spin was, we take the best D player on the board, in every round.

I would not spend 1 pick on the O. Unless its a JCRINER situation.

Marks hair

Id say we get out coached in both halves.. its just worse after the other team adjusts at halftime and we only get stupider..

Thec

Teams get 4 quarters of practice against an extremely better version of our offense.

Its like trying to hit a baseball then the pitcher starts throwing beach balls.

If you sign one of those guys you could move Veldheer to RT and keep drafting for defense.

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Good FA, sure. But move Veldheer? He’s a pretty solid LT I think. Out of need, I like Grimes most, Avril second.

SilverNBlackPA

Good FA, sure. But move Veldheer? He’s a pretty solid LT I think. Out of need, I like Grimes most, Avril second.

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Oh I’m plenty happy with Veldheer, just spitballing.

I want Avril in the worst way. He’s the RDE we need. And Jennings/DMoore would make a pretty good 1-2 WR combo.

Thec

DMAC, good point. thats one of the areas i wanted to see improvemnt form game to game is 1st half adjustments.

10-6 going into the half…WTF

guest123

Trying to be glass half full, I looked forward to the second half and was glad DA deffered the first half possession. I was thinking the second half gameplan was going to be agressive with some more plays designed to take advantage of Denver’s agressiveness. Those bubble screens to Reece were working. We got away from that and tried to run the ball into the heart of the Bronco’s defense. Why are we hell bent on proving the ZBS doesn’t work and can’t work against fast swarming defenses? Delayed handoffs and misdirection should have been the recipes for the 2nd half rushing calls. But they continued to plow straight on into the brick wall. SMH

SilverNBlackPA

10-6 going into the half…WTF

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Denver was doing their level best to keep us in that game the 1st half. Thomas’s fumble, the bizarre decision to fake the FG, etc.

Marks hair

Id bet most of those guys dont become fa’s..

TheBay2LA

Thec Says:
October 1st, 2012 at 10:50 am
I agree with whoever stated that we should draft for BPA, regardless of position

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My spin was, we take the best D player on the board, in every round.

I would not spend 1 pick on the O. Unless its a JCRINER situation.

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Honestly, I would probobly agree here. I mean our “need” on the D side of the ball is so great that it would make sense to draft BPA here. Hard to fail that way. But I think facing the QB’s in our division, we need to shore up the pass rush and corner position. And acquiring these positions in FA is costly, when players can be found in the draft.

Thec

Denver was doing their level best to keep us in that game the 1st half. Thomas’s fumble, the bizarre decision to fake the FG, etc.

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Yeah, they came out in the 2nd half and said F it, lets just plow em.

SilverNBlackPA

Delayed handoffs and misdirection should have been the recipes for the 2nd half rushing calls. But they continued to plow straight on into the brick wall. SMH

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Particularly frustrating because watching the tape of the Broncos and Texans the Donks defense was biting HARD on Houston’s misdirection plays almost every single time.

DennisAllensVisor

Hate to break it to you guys, but we arent signing any big FAs next year either.

Wont have the cash to. But we will dump some guys.. Cap hits still suck tho..

SilverNBlackPA

1220.Marks hair Says:
October 1st, 2012 at 10:55 am
Id bet most of those guys dont become fa’s..

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Long is the most likely to be re-signed.

The Lions and Packers have cap issues and I’m not sure if they can retain Avril and Jennings. At least if I can believe what I read.

Dumping Kelly, RoMac, Seymour and Huff next year will free up a boatload of cash for Reggie.

DennisAllensVisor

SilverNBlackPA Says:
October 1st, 2012 at 10:56 am
Delayed handoffs and misdirection should have been the recipes for the 2nd half rushing calls. But they continued to plow straight on into the brick wall. SMH

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Particularly frustrating because watching the tape of the Broncos and Texans the Donks defense was biting HARD on Houston’s misdirection plays almost every single time.

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THE main reason Knapp’s offense has looked so bad, our inability to run the stretch, stretch PA etc…

Thec

DennisAllensVisor Says:
October 1st, 2012 at 10:56 am
Hate to break it to you guys, but we arent signing any big FAs next year either.

Wont have the cash to. But we will dump some guys.. Cap hits still suck tho..

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Concur, thats the way I see it. will need to hit some HR’s in the draft.

Mistic1 Tha Supavillain

Mr. instant upgrade whiffs again. This is getting ugly fast, just as some of us predicted it would. We have been called every name in the book fr pointing out what was painfully obvious since the cracked collar bone and our 6-2 start of a year ago.

This current team isnt even close to what we had before, and we are in the midst of a full blown re build.

All hold overs it appears must be swept out with few exceptions. veldheer, lil whiz, dhb and ford are keepers, every one else is on the bubble.

If we lose one or two more games without winning any i will be ready for the TP ERA (of evaluation) to begin.

So much for captain bungles leading us to the playoffs

TheBay2LA

I actually recall quite a few failed screens in the 3rd, which was a product of adjustments by the Donkeys. A few on third down. What killed me were the toss plays and stretch plays that were doomed from the start. It’s obvious the O-line cannot establish the line of scrimmage upfield, but rather 2-3 yards deep. I’m pretty sure not many RB’s could be successful here and now, minus a fluke 64 yard pop.

Marks hair

We should firesale and draft geno smith… every gm with a true franchise qb looks smart..

backstageatapuppetshow

guest123 Says:
October 1st, 2012 at 10:54 am

Trying to be glass half full, I looked forward to the second half and was glad DA deffered the first half possession. I was thinking the second half gameplan was going to be agressive with some more plays designed to take advantage of Denver’s agressiveness. Those bubble screens to Reece were working. We got away from that and tried to run the ball into the heart of the Bronco’s defense. Why are we hell bent on proving the ZBS doesn’t work and can’t work against fast swarming defenses? Delayed handoffs and misdirection should have been the recipes for the 2nd half rushing calls. But they continued to plow straight on into the brick wall. SMH

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No they did not. You don not know wtf you are talking about……

-We didn’t run even one BUBBLE screen. We ran a screen…..although it wasn’t a bubble screen…
-We didn’t run straight at Denver either..instead we tried to run the Toss outside and our zone running play. We ran the ISO play 1 time for 4 yards and a counter 1 time for about 5. Goodson also ran a draw for about 10 toward the end of the game.

Your post speaks to the incompetence of this team….and you have no idea what you are talking about….perhaps you to, should start working for Reggie McKenzie?

SnB offense defense specialteams

shutdown Says:
October 1st, 2012 at 10:39 am

This young coach and Reggie have the right mindset. Take care of discipline first, since it’s something a coaching staff and a team CAN control. Then, take care of personnel, when you have some money and some draft choices to work with.
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While the jury is still out on Reggie and the coaches….you hit on something with this paragragh.

The discipline in Oakland was atrocious every freekn year until now (at least through 4 games).

The discipline will set a tone and also work as a filter to broom out those who can’t play within a system…..

You are spot on…$50MM in cap room and draft picks….plenty of opportunity to get the right guys in here.

Thec

backstageatapuppetshow, Mr davis was a Creator.

DennisAllensVisor

50 Million in cap space?

When is that? LOL

Marks hair

Why did knapp call playaction all game even though we couldnt run?? Cause he is dumb..

Mistic1 Tha Supavillain

Geno smith and EJ manual look like they would fit in very very well in silver and black, we are going no where with the toothless tiger at the helm, but to 4-12 at the corner of bungles and miserey

backstageatapuppetshow

SnB offense defense specialteams Says:
October 1st, 2012 at 11:01 am

shutdown Says:
October 1st, 2012 at 10:39 am

This young coach and Reggie have the right mindset. Take care of discipline first, since it’s something a coaching staff and a team CAN control. Then, take care of personnel, when you have some money and some draft choices to work with.
======================================================
While the jury is still out on Reggie and the coaches….you hit on something with this paragragh.

The discipline in Oakland was atrocious every freekn year until now (at least through 4 games).

The discipline will set a tone and also work as a filter to broom out those who can’t play within a system…..

You are spot on…$50MM in cap room and draft picks….plenty of opportunity to get the right guys in here.

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Bullchit’

Discipline is one thing….winning games is another….and while committing turnovers is huge in losses…..not committing them has almost no correlation to winning games…..

Especially when our coaching staff makes the kind of mistakes we committed yesterday!

Thec

Geno Smith, that game this weekend was like a video game.
not reality

DennisAllensVisor

Marks hair Says:
October 1st, 2012 at 11:03 am
Why did knapp call playaction all game even though we couldnt run?? Cause he is dumb..

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Because the offense is built off the run.

80-90% of the plays are built off the run.

Makes it even worse that we cant run.

guest123

post 1231. You are trying to be argumentative about some specific plays late in the game when it was out of reach. I’m talking about when the game was still in doubt. The play calls where we ran iso only put into a 3rd and short but still a passing down. We didnt have that kind of success on early downs. Playcalling was the issue. They read us like a book.

Raidernationdave

I see dumbassfoshizzlerizzle is up to his old self alienating the entire Nation on the blog.

I swear dude, the best part of you ran down your mother’s crack.

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oakfoshow Says:
October 1st, 2012 at 9:11 am
#1026 Let me educate you son. 21st century NFL is about winning. Reggie is complete loser. It doesnt even take 4 games to figure that out. This blog. lol.

riderm

You guys do realize that we would be getting more production from Quentin Groves than Mcclain, right? At a fraction of the cost too!

inonewordraider

So much for captain bungles leading us to the playoffs
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your not seriously blaming this on cp are you?

Thec

riderm Says:
October 1st, 2012 at 11:07 am
You guys do realize that we would be getting more production from Quentin Groves than Mcclain, right? At a fraction of the cost too!

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lol…Sad but true…This is like ripleys, beleive it or not.

guest123

Heard on the radio this morning that WVU QB Geno Smith has more TD’s on the season (20) as he does incompletions (18). That’s an amazing statistic.

Thec

I am out guys…ALL of you enjoy this day.

1 NATION, the only NATION in the history of sports.

guest123

later Thec

backstageatapuppetshow

guest123 Says:
October 1st, 2012 at 11:06 am

post 1231. You are trying to be argumentative about some specific plays late in the game when it was out of reach. I’m talking about when the game was still in doubt. The play calls where we ran iso only put into a 3rd and short but still a passing down. We didnt have that kind of success on early downs. Playcalling was the issue. They read us like a book.

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Again, you are incorrect. And no, I’m not arguing with you my friend, that would imply that either one of us could be correct….which is not the case…..

I am correct…..and you are incorrect.

I do agree with you regarding the play calling being an issue…..but we did not run A or B Gap (inside) plays other than those I mentioned above…..and your last post neglected to bring up the Bubble Screen…